"Since floodplains compose 2 percent of the land surface of the Amazon region," writes E O Wilson in The Diversity of Life, "the commercial potential of the species is enormous. It carries far less cost to the environment than the cattle and other exotic animals now being thrust upon the land with disastrous result."
This example illustrates two ideas central to preserving tropical rainforests, the home of about 40% of species on Earth.
Firstly, there are multiple other examples of where a creature or plant found somewhere, often in the rainforest, can offer benefits well beyond the plants and animals we currently consume as food, medicine, or fuel or for construction. Wilson’s book includes tables of examples, but he emphasises that we have so far identified only a small proportion of the world’s species. There will be great benefits to be had among those unidentified species, a strong argument for continuing to identify species.
Secondly, the rainforests and other areas rich in biodiversity are most likely to be preserved if they can be used in ways that produce a longer-term economic gain that burning them down to allow farming, often of cattle, or chopping them down for wood. "The goal of all such innovations," writes Wilson, "is to increase productivity and wealth with a minimal disturbance of natural ecosystems and loss of biological diversity. Chosen and managed wisely, the exotic becomes the familiar and favored—and remains environmentally benign."
"Biodiversity," adds Wilson, "is our most valuable but least appreciated resource." Our other two major assets, wealth and culture, are much better understood. I concentrate here on how we could increase the quality of our diet by "exploiting" but also preserving biodiversity.
The green iguana, a large lizard, is known the "chicken of the trees" as it has light and tasty flesh. Those in Central and South America who eat it regard it as a great delicacy. The green iguana will not replace chicken in global diets, but it could provide a profitable income for local people if they preserve the green iguana’s environment and create a market for the iguana’s flesh—without, of course, killing too many.
The entire plant of the winged bean (Psophocarpus tetra-gonolobus) of New Guinea can be eaten. Its leaves are like spinach; its pods are beans; its young seeds are like peas; its tubers, which have more protein than potatoes, can be boiled, fried, baked or roasted; and its seeds are like soybeans and can be cooked as they are, ground into flour, or liquified into a drink that tastes like coffee. The winged bean grows very fast (four metres in a few weeks) and has nitrogen-fixing nodules in its roots and so little need for fertilizer. The plant has the potential to raise the standards of living of millions of people in the poorest tropical countries.
The Spanish brought back to Europe potatoes from the Andes, but they missed hundreds of varieties that are more tasty and more productive. From Africa comes katemfe (Thaumatococcus daniellii), which is 1600 times sweeter than sucrose, while the serendipity berry (Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii) from West Africa is 3000 times sweeter than sucrose.
Despite these examples and many others, very few of the species with potential economic importance reach world markets. There are, estimates Wilson, around 30000 species of plants that can be eaten. Throughout history about 7000 have been eaten, but 20 species provide 90% of the world’s food and just three—wheat, maize, and rice—supply more than half.
The story is similar for animals. We eat what our ancestors from 10 000 years ago ate: horses, cattle, donkeys, camels, pigs, and goats. These animals destroy many environments, and are often inferior in yield to wild species that humanity has not tried to eat. "Our narrow diets," writes Wilson, "are not so much the result of choice as of accident. We still depend on the plant [and animal] species discovered and cultivated by our neolithic ancestors in the several regions where agriculture began."
Insects also offer great possibilities for food (I’ve eaten ants eggs in Mexico), and Wilson adds without elaboration that "the greatest potential expansion in production is by aquaculture, the rearing of fish, oysters and other mollusks." As a lover of whelks this pleases me, but I know that most people wince wen I talk about eating whelks. And this is the rub, we are horribly culturally bound when it comes to diet. Our local butcher has tried selling ostrich and alligator but given up—too few customers. And he’s never tried selling horse, although people in many countries, including France, eat horse. How will we be able to persuade people to eat turtles, iguanas, or the winged bean? Of course, once people begin to starve, they will eat anything.
Richard Smith.
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https://blogs.mediapart.fr/wawa/blog/070925/monsieur-seguin-neut-jamais-de-chance-avec-ses-chevres
https://blogs.mediapart.fr/wawa/blog/060521/toute-chose-est-nombre
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